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FCC Adopts New Rules, Eliminates Exclusive Agreements

By
Patrick Revere
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new fcc rules manufactured home communities

Change Also Calls for Transparency on Marketing Deals

The Federal Communications Commission last month adopted new rules that will prohibit exclusive agreements between multi-family property owners and telecommunications providers to ”unlock broadband competition for those living and working in apartments, public housing, office buildings, and other multi-tenant buildings”. 

The rules are anticipated to be entered to the Federal Register any day, and after 180 days will prohibit “certain broadband agreements”, including at least some exclusive agreements, as well as profit-sharing within agreements, and also will require transparency to residents and tenants on any other marketing deals in place between the entities.

Additionally, in what the FCC calls a Declaratory Ruling, a clarification will be issued that will prohibit so-called “sale-and-leaseback arrangements” of cable infrastructure, which the FCC deems anti-competitive.

“One third of this country live in multi-tenant buildings where there often is only one choice for a broadband provider, and no ability to shop for a better deal,” Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said.  “The rules we adopt today will crack down on practices that prevent competition and effectively block a consumer’s ability to get lower prices or higher quality services.”

The new rules were set in motion in January when Rosenworcel circulated a proposed “Report and Order” and the Declaratory Ruling, which have since been approved 4-0 by the commission. The Report and Order includes language on page 9, bullet 14 that puts the onus on the telecom providers rather than housing providers to abide by the change, that it will exempt single-service providers of broadband/VOiP, and that further application of the rules may arise as more information becomes available.

MHI’s Reaction to the New FCC Rules

The Manufactured Housing Institute sent a statement to members last week on the FCC’s direction.

“The aim of the new rule is to create more internet options for tenants but disregards the high cost of building out an internet infrastructure and the cost savings of group pricing,” MHI stated.

MHI will continue to research the new FCC rules and communicate the potential outcomes on the industry during the coming weeks and months. Among the most likely negative impacts could be more erosion of choices for consumers living in rural areas where a great number of manufactured home communities are situated.

Bookmark MHInsider to keep up on the latest manufactured housing news, and check this post for updates and perspective as details become available.

Value Addition: A 15-year Look at Community Economies

By
Steven Blank
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value-add communities steven blank

I’ve seen this industry’s evolution firsthand through working as a community operator over the past 15 years. As we are amid an economic boom in our industry and everyone’s focus is on value addition, I believe it is important to understand how we got to this point by taking a holistic view of our industry since the 2008 recession. By understanding where we are coming from, we can make the best decisions on how to add value moving forward in this ever-changing environment.

The Old World

Flashback to 2006, when you could purchase a community with 90-plus percent loan to value, there were multiple non-recourse chattel lenders to finance new home sales, and very few operators were renting houses. As such, selling homes could be done at volume (and for a nice profit). Then came the Great Recession, with chattel lenders going out of business overnight, our resident bases losing their jobs, and community financing becoming more difficult to obtain. Communities lost occupancy through resident loan defaults with home inventories purchased, sold, and removed by third-party home wholesalers.

The Climb Back

Infilling communities with used homes and homes for rent became popular value-add business models in the years following 2008. Communities had large vacancies to fill, but selling new product was difficult. Rental homes allowed community owners to fill vacancies in short order by offering an alternative to ownership. Meanwhile, used homes offered a more affordable solution to home ownership (or rental) and removed the need for chattel financing, which for the most part, required community owner recourse.

The Boom (Pre-COVID)

Fast forward to 2019: communities are being sold at record high prices, the rental model is in full effect, the market and supply for used homes is dwindling and new homes are being sold again in markets that have struggled since 2008. The segment is consolidating as tremendous new tax benefits spur a flood of investment as the low cost of capital allows institutional investors to take advantage of large community purchases that would otherwise produce low returns.

The Boom Part II (COVID and beyond)

Since March of 2020 the industry has continued to see an increase in demand as rent collections and occupancy remain high through COVID and as the affordable housing crisis continues.  Traditional housing prices across the country have skyrocketed in the wake of low inventory levels and worldwide supply chain issues, which have increased new home prices and lead times to new heights. Because of these real and enduring market factors manufactured housing has become an even more viable alternative. For an industry that has battled a negative stigma for years, a positive change is taking place with the future looking bright. 

H

How to Add Value in Today’s Economy

Prices of communities and homes (new and used) have increased dramatically since the onset of COVID and getting those homes onsite has become one of the biggest obstacles to overcome. Community owners and operators are faced with the same key questions as in years past related to one primary factor: How to best add value to our communities?

  • Do we hold and wait out the high home prices and lead times? Meanwhile, our communities lose the best opportunity in more than a decade to fill vacancies with qualified tenants.
  • Do we purchase new homes? Pay the surcharges and patiently wait for new homes and hope that the increase in demand covers the increase in price for the homes and construction cost?
  • Do we try to source used homes? Pay an increased premium along with a decreasing ability to find a good quality product?  

The answer to all these questions is: it depends. Owning and operating a manufactured housing community is not “paint by numbers” or a walk in the park. Selling homes as the primary/only business model used to be a no-brainer, but now with community prices being so high, the profit from a home rental program can become necessary for community success. At Blank Family Communities, we have been a strong proponent of the hybrid home sale and rental home model in the Midwest as it still yields the greatest absorption rate of homes and net operating income bump. The rental model is especially successful in secondary and tertiary markets (most communities in primary markets have been purchased by institutional operators). Most community owners we meet now are newer to the industry and have paid a premium for their community, even the vacant sites. So, the pressure to infill homes is at an all-time high.

Today, as president of Blank Family Communities, a third-party property management company based in Michigan, I see great opportunity, coupled with even greater risk. Managing our ever-changing environment in manufactured housing is critical. Ownership must possess the ability to properly budget; forecast new home availability and related costs and surcharges; model proper scenarios for the financial needs of a community, and gain and maintain occupancy to push NOI. These factors and others need to be developed properly to ensure success today and for those to come.

MHInsider is the leader in manufactured housing news and is a product of MHVillage, the top marketplace for manufactured homes.

National Home Prices Increase 18.8% in 2021

By
Patrick Revere
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home price increase sp cl 2021 index
home price increase year end '21
Craig Lazzara, Dow Jones Indices.

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index for U.S. home prices shows an 18.8 percent increase for 2021, but with a general slowing in the rate of home price increases toward the latter half of the year. Month-over-month, December 2021 showed a 1.3 percent increase compared after seasonal adjustments compared with the same month the year prior.

In December, all 20 cities reported increases before and after seasonal adjustments, the report stated.

“This month’s report covers December 2021, and therefore brings our reporting on calendar 2021 to a close,” S&P Dow Jones Indices Managing Director Craig J. Lazzara said. “For the year, the National Composite Index recorded a gain of 18.8 percent. This is the highest calendar-year increase in 34 years of data, and substantially ahead of 2020’s 10.4 perce t gain.”

The 10-City Composite annual increase for 2021 came in at 17 percent, up from 16.9 percent in the previous month. The 20-City Composite posted an 18.6 percent year-over-year gain, up from 18.3 percent in the previous month. Phoenix, Tampa, and Miami reported the highest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities in December. Phoenix led the way with a 32.5 percent year-over-year price increase, followed by Tampa with a 29.4 percent increase and Miami with a 27.3 percent increase.

“We have noted that for the past several months, home prices have been rising at a very high, but decelerating rate. The deceleration paused in December, as year-over-year changes in all three composite indices were slightly ahead of their November levels,” Lazzara said. “December’s 18.8 percent gain for the National Composite is the fifth-highest reading in history.”

It has been suggested, Lazzara said, that the strength in the U.S. housing market is driven in part by a change in locational preferences as households react to the COVID pandemic.

“More data will be required to understand whether this demand surge simply represents an acceleration of purchases that would have occurred over the next several years rather than a more permanent secular change.,” he said. “In the short term, meanwhile, we should soon begin to see the impact of increasing mortgage rates on home prices.”

For more information about S&P Dow Jones Indices, please visit www.spglobal.com/spdji/.

MHInsider is a product of MHVillage. Bookmark our homepage to keep up on all the latest manufactured housing news and industry trends.

Biloxi Manufactured Housing Expo Announces Revamped Event Format For 2022

By
Sean Vichinsky
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Biloxi Show Put Off 2022 coronavirus
Photo courtesy of City of Biloxi, Miss.
Biloxi Manufactured Housing Expo 2022

The Biloxi Manufactured Housing Expo has announced that the 2022 event will employ a new programming format, placing emphasis on education and networking for the manufactured housing industry. 

The Biloxi Manufactured Housing Expo, which will take place from March 28-30, 2022 at the IP Casino Resort Spa in Biloxi, Miss., will provide a platform for addressing the common challenges in the industry, and better educate manufacturers, community owners, suppliers, retailers, and others on advances in the production, sale, and virtual market of manufactured homes.

While past years of the event have hosted model manufactured homes on site for attendees to view, the focus on seminars and education for the 2022 year will allow attendees to network with industry thought leaders and professionals and stay up to date on the industry’s changes and latest innovations.

Previously known as the Tunica Show, the South Central Manufactured Housing Institute (SCMHI) comprised of the Alabama Manufactured Housing Association and the Mississippi Manufactured Housing Association oversee this unique industry event. 

Biloxi Manufactured Housing Expo Offers Exclusive Industry Programming 

The Biloxi Manufactured Housing Expo will offer three days of programming, receptions, and events for manufactured housing professionals, including a golf tournament on Monday, March 28.

At the Biloxi Manufactured Housing Expo, attendees can attend sessions such as: 

  • Manufacturer’s Panel – The Reality of Doing Business in the Pandemic New Normal
  • MH Advantage™, CHOICEHome™: How Today’s MH is Changing the Industry
  • Connecting with the Next Generation of Community Residents – They’re Not Just for Seniors Any More
  • Sales Management 3.0: You Can’t Manage Sales Like It’s 1980
  • From Rent-Collector to Sales Superstar – The Enhanced Role of Community Managers
  • Virtual Selling: Competing for Buyers in a Digital World
  • State Association Executive Directors Panel
  • Appraisal Insights for Success
  • Low Tech Marketing to Sell More
  • New to Manufactured Housing? What Everyone in the Industry Should Know, and the Department of Energy’s Proposed Regulation Means for Your Bottom Line
  • And more! 

“We’re excited to offer more for our attendees in 2022 with a new location, new date, and a new event format,” Mississippi Manufactured Housing Association Executive Director Jennifer Hall said. “The importance of meeting in-person to share knowledge, industry updates, and best practices has never been more important, so this new direction for the Biloxi Manufactured Housing Expo will make this year a historic one for the event.”

Register Today for the 2022 Biloxi Expo

Registration to attend and exhibit at the Biloxi Manufactured Housing Expo is underway. For more information on the expo or to register online, visit biloxihomeshow.com/register. Registration is free for retailers and community owners and managers. Housing for the event is available at the IP Casino Resort Spa in Biloxi with a special rate for attendees through Monday, February 21.

Sponsorship slots also are available prior to the event. Sponsoring companies will receive ongoing recognition leading up to the show, onsite and post-event, all while maximizing brand visibility at one of the industry’s largest events. For more information on how to become a sponsor, visit biloxihomeshow.com/sponsorships.


Formerly known as the Tunica Show, this new city and venue will be the home to hundreds of manufactured housing professionals, specially curated educational workshops, endless networking, and leading manufacturers and service-suppliers on the expo hall floor. The event is being hosted by the South Central Manufactured Housing Institute (SCHMI) and managed by the industry-centric digital marketing agency ManufacturedHomes.com, in collaboration with the MHInsider, the industry’s award-winning news source for manufactured housing professionals.

About The Biloxi Manufactured Housing Expo

The Biloxi Manufactured Housing Expo is an industry conference for manufactured housing professionals and is not open to the general public. 

IBS ’22 & KBIS in Orlando Offer Solutions for Small Spaces

By
Patrick Revere
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IBS '22 KBIS show Suzanne Felber the lifestylins
Suzanne Felber, far left among the press corp, gets a sneak peek of the newest kitchen and bath solutions on the market.

Home 3D Printed On-Site, Genesis Homes Returns to ‘Village’ Joined by Franklin PreFab

The International Builders’ Show and associated Kitchen & Bath International Show are back in person, this time in Orlando. MHInsider contributor Suzanne Felber, The Lifestylist, is perusing the Orange County Convention Center for solutions that fit the floorplan and anticipated lifestyle for most factory-built homes. She also is keeping a keen eye for housing innovation, including the on-site home building process with a 3D printer, and new homes from modular builders.

IBS ’22 kicked off on Feb. 8 and continues through Feb. 10.

Small Appliances and Luxuries at IBS ’22

LG came to Orlando with a North American test product. Manufactured homeowners, particularly those who live in manufactured home communities with defined common areas, can start the gardening a few months earlier with a 24-inch indoor gardening appliance. Growing light, climate control, and connects with LG ThinQ smart technology.

All photos by Lisa Stewart of Lisa Stewart Photography.

Under Counter Small Appliances at IBS ’22

Smaller appliances like undercounted dishwashers, microwaves, and refrigeration drawers are trending. Copper and rose gold metal finishes are being seen in a lot more places in the kitchen and bathrooms. The under-counter dishwasher shown below is part of the GE Cafe line.

Shower Walls Clean Themselves

Airmada uses treated air that is piped into a shower through the nozzles to dry a shower after use to prevent mold and mineral buildup.

Microvisor Brings New Hood Exhaust to Orlando for IBS ’22

The hood addition from Microvisor takes lost exhaust from a range and helps direct it back to the fan with a microwave fan combination.

Black Buffalo Constructs 3D-Printed Home at IBS ’22

Black Buffalo 3D’s NEXCON™ construction printer used to construct a tiny home at IBS ’22 is designed to help developers, contractors, governments, and non-governmental organizations with technology and materials to save time and money compared with traditional building methods. The NEXCON family of printers was developed in global partnership with mechanical engineering and construction experts to address the needs of tomorrow, today. Based in New York, the company can print multiple stories high, for homes or buildings. It also can print standup walls and modular components faster and more cost-effectively than when framed lumber, precast, or block methods are used.

The tiny home built in 12-hours in Orlando used 12 “superstacks” of Black Buffalo 3D structural concrete mix, 540 gallons of water, and a series of horizontal reinforcements, one every five to seven stacks. It takes three workers to operate the machine, one each at the controller, pump, and nozzle.

Genesis Homes Returns to the Builder’s Show

Felber said she feels Genesis is succeeding in their plan to become disruptors in the building industry.

“I think they can do it,” she said. “I really appreciate the new management I met, and I am more optimistic about the future of this company than ever.”

Felber said the company seems to be hiring more often corporate professionals with backgrounds outside the manufactured housing industry.

“They have their eyes set on developers and doing more communities that compete apples-to-apples with site built homes, except they will be able to offer all of the advantages of factory built housing,” Felber said.

Genesis, which is a brand or Champion Homes, last had a home at IBS in 2020.

Franklin PreFab Joins Genesis in the IBS Village

Franklin, from Russelville, Ala., chose a home from its prefab line to bring to IBS. Franklin PreFab provides style and design that mirrors conventional on-site built homes and offer the advantages and efficiencies of factory-produced homes.

The line provides a broad selection of designs and styles, and each floorplan and set of home interior options can be customized for the buyer. Though many prefab buyers intend to install the Franklin series on a foundation and with the local modular code, Franklin PreFab also can be built to the HUD code and can be placed as a manufactured home.

Franklin sells all of its homes from homebuilding facilities, through a network of retailers, and in partnership with residential developers.

Bookmark MHInsider and come back for more manufactured housing news.

Dallas Builder Plans 700-Home Community

By
Patrick Revere
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megatel houses throughout north texas dallas builder

A large Dallas-based builder, Megatel Group, has developed a new line of homes built for community living that will be set in a series of three Golden Gate Communities, including one with 700 new homes in the Dallas suburb of Weston.

“This development project in Weston marks the launch of our prefabricated home park product line,”  Megatel co-founder Zach Ipour said. “Within the next five years, we plan to build and develop 10,000 prefabricated homes across the nation through this platform.”

Megatel’s other Texas communities are in Prosper and Celina.

The Dallas Business Journal reports area home prices had increased a record 23.7% in the previous 12 months, among the largest surges in the nation.

Megatel constructs apartments, townhomes, and houses throughout North Texas. It also develops lagoon communities, including one under construction in Forney. It has more than a dozen additional lagoon communities planned for six regional states. Founded in 2006 by brothers Aaron and Zach Ipour, Megatel Homes has become a prominent homebuilder in the Dallas Fort-Worth metroplex.

The company posted record-breaking sales results in May 2021, with more than 300 home sales and over $120 million in gross contract sales in that month alone.

“Recently, our focus has been on targeting the more affordable end of the housing market with higher density products,” Ipour said. “Additionally, we are hyper-focused on providing homebuyers with more value through the development of our new lagoon communities that offer world-class amenities, ultimately revolutionizing the typical residential subdivision.”

New Affordable Housing in Texas

Homes in the new, affordable Golden Gate Communities will range in size from 550 square feet to 2,400 square feet. Golden Gate Communities will feature a unique amenity center with a café, fitness areas, and resort-style swimming pool, pickleball, bocce ball, volleyball, and a playground.

Five acres at each community will be dedicated to amenities such as a farmers’ market, which will provide residents access to local produce and will ultimately support small business owners and agricultural workers.

“We are pleased to develop our first of many prefabricated home parks and to provide a modern, yet affordable housing option for individuals with low to moderate income levels,” Ipour said.

He said the use of prefabricated homes will help reduce the negative and costly impact of supply chain shortages and material scarcity. 

“As material costs and labor shortages continue to negatively impact the industry, fabricated home parks will offer quality affordable housing options,” Ipour said. “Through our Golden Gate Communities, we will change the perception of ‘trailer parks’ and provide innovative and modernized communities that are attainable for people with all price points, budgets, and lifestyles.

“Nationwide, there are approximately 250,000 construction jobs sitting vacant and prices, as well as lead times of building materials, have skyrocketed,” he said. “Our new prefabricated home park platform is an innovative approach to provide affordable housing options and to ultimately expand our customer base.”

Rent-Back Program Boosts Homeownership

In March of 2019, Megatel launched its Rent-Back program in an effort to create a bridge between renters and homeownership. In partnership with select apartment communities, the Megatel Rent-Back program rebates up to a year of rent payments at lease-end to renters who choose to purchase a home.

“Our rent-back program has directly contributed to our success as renters search for more incentives that can help them achieve homeownership in today’s surging market,” Ipour said. “This is a concept that no other home builder offers, and one that will serve as a solution to one of the biggest hurdles that would-be homeowners face. We have been investing in this program for two years and are now able to see the extraordinary results of this pioneering concept.”

MHInsider, the leading source of manufactured housing news, is a product of MHVillage.

Michigan Manufactured Home Community Rents Show 5% Growth

By
Patrick Revere
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michigan rents occupancy jlt reports oaks of rockford
Photo courtesy of Zeman Communities/Oaks of Rockford.

February JLT Market Reports from Datacomp Cover Manufactured Home Community Data in 17 Michigan Markets

Datacomp, publisher of JLT Market Reports and the nation’s #1 provider of market data for the manufactured housing industry, announces the publication of its February 2022 mobile home rent comps, occupancy, and other vital data on Michigan manufactured home communities.

Recognized as the industry standard for manufactured home community market analysis for more than 20 years, JLT Market Reports provide detailed research and information on manufactured home communities located in 187 primary housing markets throughout the United States. This includes the latest rent trends and statistics, marketing programs, and a variety of other useful management insights.

Datacomp’s manufactured housing market data published in the February 2022 JLT Market Reports includes information on investment-grade  “all ages” and “55+” manufactured home communities. Altogether, the Michigan reports include data representations for 124,717 homesites.

  • Midwest region manufactured home communities show a year-over-year 4.7% increase in adjusted rent
  • Midwest region manufactured home communities show a year-over-year 1.1% increase in occupancy

“Adjusted rent throughout Michigan increased moderately, with only a pair of counties showing double-digit increases among the retirement communities,” Datacomp Co-President and Chief Business Development Officer Darren Krolewski said.

What’s in JLT Market Reports?

Each JLT manufactured home community rent and occupancy report from Datacomp has detailed information about investment grade communities in the major markets. The detailed information includes:

  • Number of homesites
  • Occupancy rates
  • Average community rents, and increases
  • Community amenities
  • Vacant lots
  • Repossessed and inventory homes, and much more

Established reports show trends in each market with a comparison of February 2022 rents and occupancy rates to February 2021. In addition, JLT Market Reports include a historical recap of rents and occupancy from 1996 to the present date in most markets.

The February 2022 JLT Market Reports for 17 markets in Michigan are available for purchase and immediate download online at the Datacomp JLT Market Reports, or they may be ordered by phone in electronic or printed editions at (800) 588-5426.

Each fully updated report for mobile home communities is a comprehensive look at investment-grade properties within a market, enabling owners and managers, lenders, appraisers, brokers and other organizations to effectively benchmark those communities and make informed decisions.

Death of a Salesman… And the Impact of Denial

By
John Ace Underwood
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death of a salesman underwood

This article isn’t about a play written by Arthur Miller in 1948, about the life and failures of a salesman by the name of Willy Loman. While the play revolves around success, failures, delusions of grandeur, I will focus on his perpetual cycle of denial and draw some parallels between this character and a reality in which so many sales professionals find themselves cemented in, usually totally unaware.

More and more major purchases are made by the consumers without the assistance or interference of a “salesperson”. One only has to look at the auto industry, conventional site builders, and the evolution of online representatives to see evidence of this shift.

In the factory-built housing industry, the profession of selling, as we know it, is a dying profession. If one chooses to ignore changes in technology, changes in marketing, changes in how people think, shop, and buy, this profession has no significant future, and for many of you, this will be a hard pill to swallow, but no less accurate. Knowing that you are becoming obsolete is never good news.

Manufacturers have discovered that sales organizations, independent or not, have always been the weakest link in the distribution chain. Poorly hired, trained, and managed sales organizations providing an underwhelming customer experience have been a primary culprit in our inability to take our rightful place in the affordable housing space.

For years, manufacturers have been trying to address this shortcoming and the evolution of technology has given manufacturers the hope that they need not be so critically linked to this weak link in their distribution. I know this to be a fact as I was one of the people that was called upon to see if we could make a difference.

Technology is continuing to make it easier and easier for consumers to do most of their research, product selection and design, all from the comfort of their living room.

Before most prospective buyers ever pull out of their driveway, they will have already, in a broad sense, determined what product(s) they’re looking for, what such homes should cost and what options they are interested in.

Furthermore, they will have a shortlist of places they would like to visit, view product, and narrow down the field to whom they would consider buying their home from. If you’re not on that list, the likelihood of you seeing that prospect is minimal at best. All of this is a process of elimination. They eliminate the rest until they’re left with what they feel is the best.

Here is where we circle back to Arthur Miller’s play. Willy Loman was in perpetual denial as are so many salespeople in our industry still trying to make a living in their dying profession.

Is this to suggest that all salespeople will become obsolete in the years to come? Yes, if we’re talking about salespeople who sit and wait for walk-in traffic. Yes, if we’re referring to salespeople who are of the belief that leads generated by internet marketing campaigns are worthless. Yes, if we’re talking about salespeople that IF they respond to leads, they do so after a few days and then only once. Yes, simply because those salespeople serve no meaningful purpose.

My own statistics collected over the last 10 years clearly show that 75% of all website-generated inquiries are never responded to, save perhaps an autoresponder sent out by a CRM. My own statistics show that less than 44% of all inbound sales calls go to voicemail. When you can’t even manage to answer the phone when prospective buyers call, why would we then wonder why manufactured housing still represents 9% of all new housing starts, a few points less if you take out community sales.

What Can the Sales Team Do to Thrive?

Let’s talk about the three primary skills that are absolutely critical if you wish to succeed in the immediate future.

First, you need to recognize that the sales process starts when a lead is generated, not when someone shows up on your location.

Second, you need to have a fundamental understanding of how digital marketing works and the role that immediacy and frequency play in your success. Immediacy is the speed at which you respond to a lead, measured in minutes, not days or weeks, and frequency is how often you try to reach out to a prospective buyer. Most studies confirm that you must respond to leads within the first 14 minutes, and you have to do so at least 8+ times in the first 72 hours if you want to increase sales.

Third, you need to have the ability to build a personal relationship with your prospective buyer over the phone. Literally intercepting that prospect as early in their buying process as possible and be willing to work with that individual until they recognize the importance of coming to see you in person. In short, you must be able to convert leads into conversations, conversations into visits and visits into commitments.

That is the only way you will survive and thrive. Or, like Willy Loman, you can continue to live in denial that the world around you has changed, unwilling to adapt to a technology-driven world, and your remains will be found on the mountains of bleached bones from those who waited by the front door for their next “up”.

Price of Homes Continues to Rise at Slightly Slower Rate

By
Patrick Revere
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houston metro case shiller corelogic

The latest report from the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices show home prices continue to increase across the U.S.

As a set of indices, Case-Shiller are regarded as the leading measures of U.S. residential real estate prices, tracking changes in the value of residential real estate nationally. A list of the indices can be found and viewed at the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index Methodology web page.

The indices reported Jan. 25 cover all nine U.S. census divisions and reported an 18.8% annual gain in November, down from 19% in the previous month. The 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 16.8%, down from 17.2% in the previous month. The 20-City Composite posted an 18.3% year-over-year gain, down from 18.5% in the previous month.

Phoenix, Tampa, and Miami reported the highest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities in November. Phoenix led the way with a 32.2% year-over-year home price increase, followed by Tampa with a 29% increase in and Miami with a 26.6% increase. Eleven of the 20 cities reported higher price increases in the year ending November 2021 versus the year ending October 2021.

The charts on the following page compare year-over-year returns of different housing price ranges for Phoenix and Tampa.

MHInsider, the leading source of manufactured housing news, is a product of MHVillage.

A Look at Cavco’s Durango Facility, Tour Nearby Dolce Vita

By
Patrick Revere
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cavco durango phoenix jensen deroo
Paul DeRoo and Todd Jensen of Cavco.

Paul DeRoo and Todd Jensen from Cavco stroll through the company’s central manufacturing facility in Phoenix, the Durango plant, and talk about what it takes to meet demand amid supply disruptions and labor shortages.

Cavco Durango opened in 1978 and employs 180 people, about 50 fewer than the builder had in the plant prior to Coronavirus mitigations. They put out about 5 ½  floors per day. It’s all HUD Code product, single through multisection, including a triple-section home, the Montessa, that is being shipped to a resort community nearby.

“It’s an exciting plant, we’re really diverse in this facility,” said Jensen, who is the GM for the facility. “But labor was a challenge before COVID, and after it’s been our biggest obstacle throughout the supply chain.”

The facility supplies the development and home sales efforts to a long list of manufactured home community customers in Arizona and has a select retail presence including a Cavco-exclusive home center in South Tucson.

Jensen and DeRoo, the regional manager who works out of the park model facility in Goodyear, Ariz., stand in front of a three-section home under construction. It’s about 1,900 square feet and will have an attached garage, too.

“It’s stuccoed on-site and most of the communities will have them pit set,” Jensen said. “It gives the home and the entire community a more highly designed, residential look.”

“We have about 600 floorplans we build out of this facility,” DeRoo adds. “It can slow production a little bit, but it’s something we’ve become accustomed to doing for our customers, and something we’ve gotten good at as well.

“Now if a customer wants a certain look, we can go through what we have and see what fits best. We can make relatively minor adjustments that will make a big difference for the homeowners,” DeRoo said. “And if the customer wants something they don’t see, we will find a way to make it work. We’ll design a new floorplan in some cases.”

The ability to customize diminished slightly as material disruptions and cost became more of a challenge through 2021, but company culture doesn’t change because of a greater than a normal number of shipping containers off the coast.

“It can be made to order, that’s I guess how you get 600 floorplans in one facility,” DeRoo said.

Jensen said the company has a knack for building a house that’s heavier than most, with more hardwood and thicker decking, for instance.

“This is really a home to compete against the lower to middle market site-built homes,” Jensen explained. “Many people in California buying this home have a household income of $250,000, but oftentimes cannot afford or do not want to pay the asking price for even older site-built homes where they want to live.”

Dolce Vita is a 55+ Resort Community in Apache Junction, Ariz.

In a mountainous, red rock setting of Southern Arizona’s Sonora Desert sits Dolce Vita, a treasure that was built by Sydney Adler in the late 90s and is now owned by Equity LifeStyle Properties. Cavco has supplied homes to Dolce Vita for 15 years.

There are 700 homesites at Dolce Vita, and the community is about ⅔ full. There is a 33,000 square foot clubhouse with billiards, a library and computer center, a gym, craft and card rooms, a movie theater, and central ballroom. Outside, residents can enjoy water aerobics classes in the 3,000 square foot ocean-entry, heated pool, as well as a pair of spas, tennis courts, pickleball, bocce ball, horseshoes, shuffleboard, and a putting green.

“We have a very good relationship with the residents here, largely because we’ve been here through staff and management changes,” DeRoo said. “We try to be good neighbors when we’re bringing homes in, we want to be respectful of the setting and keep the noise and dust down as much as possible.

Ronda Learned and her husband Randy moved from Nebraska to Dolce Vita in 2018. They are full-time residents.

“We liked that it was far enough out,” Learned said. “There’s not a lot around us. We came from a rural town in Nebraska, so this makes sense for us.

“And we really love the home,” she said. “I said if we’re going to move and make it permanent, that it had to be my dream home. And this did it.”

Ronda Learned works in front of her home at Dolce Vita, Apache Junction, Ariz.

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